RAGOLER, ABRAHAM BEN SOLOMON

RAGOLER, ABRAHAM BEN SOLOMON (18th century), Lithuanian rabbi and preacher, brother of *Elijah b. Solomon Zalman Gaon of Vilna. Abraham was born in Vilna, but because of the controversy between *Ḥasidim and Mitnaggedim he moved to Ragola and was thereafter called Abraham of Ragola or "the Ḥasid ("righteous one") of Ragola." He was appointed preacher in Shklov.

He was the author of the Ma'alot ha-Torah (1828), a collection of rabbinic dicta dealing with the virtue of those who occupy themselves with the study of Torah. While explaining in detail the precepts of Torah study, he stressed that it is not sufficient "merely to study the text superficially, but it is also essential to carry it out in practice." He left in manuscript a kabbalistic commentary to the tractate Megillah and a commentary to the Book of Esther.